By Fatima Hussein
WASHINGTON (AP) – IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season will be permitted to accept an offer from the Trump administration until May 15, according to a letter sent to IRS employees on Wednesday. No.
The letter states that through May 15, 2025, “we will be exempt from important filing season positions in taxpayer services, information technology and taxpayer advocate services.”
The news comes after President Donald Trump announced plans to provide shopping to federal employees through a “deferred resignation program” to quickly reduce the government’s workforce. The program deadline is February 6th.
The acquisition, sent to approximately 2.3 million workers, is for all full-time federal employees with several exemptions, including military personnel, US Postal Service employees and positions related to immigration enforcement. If they accept, they will receive a salary of around eight months.
According to the Pew Research Center, the federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November, accounting for almost 1.9% of the total private workforce.
Union leaders representing workers across the federal government have criticised the proposal. Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, advised all federal workers not to accept their offers.
“This isn’t a big deal for them,” Greenwald told the Associated Press. “If you sign this document and then change your mind, you lose the power to fight back.”
She added as follows. “I don’t recommend people sign documents. They need to take control of their careers and this document doesn’t give them that.”
The NTEU Union represents approximately 150,000 employees from 37 divisions and agencies.
“This country needs skilled and experienced federal employees, and we are urging people not to enter into this contract because it undermines service for the American people, so we are both self and with us. Because it hurts federal employees who have dedicated their careers to service.”
January 27th is the official start date for the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline.
“What most people don’t realize is that 85% of the federal workforce works outside of DC,” she said. “They are your neighbors, your family, your friends. And they provide important services to Americans.”
Original issue: February 5th, 2025, 6:01pm EST
